mardi 14 août 2007

Dust, dust, and more dust ....











Dust, dust, and more dust …..


The climate here in the Atacama takes some getting used to. The days are very hot ….25 to 30°C, but as soon as the sun sets the temperature plunges to below freezing. Humidity is 0%, absolutely as dry as a bone; it never rains here at all …and there is a fine cloud of dust that floats permanently in the air …I’ve never sneezed so much in all my life!

We spent several days sightseeing. The mountains around are very arid ….a real lunar landscape. We trekked over enormous sand dunes, along parched canyons …even through cave systems where we could only get through on hands and knees; luckily we had our headlamps. One day we drove up to a geyser system called El Tatio. The trail was extremely bumpy, 100km of the worst corrugations I have ever experienced. At one moment we had a little « excitement » ….I braked for a bend ….and the brake pedal went straight to the floor!! …..Oooops ….No brakes!! Fortunately after pumping the pedal a few times the pressure came back. This happened several times during the trip ….guaranteed to keep you awake while you’re driving! When we got back I asked some of the tour guides if they had ever experienced the same thing …..Yes they had. Apparently sometimes he vibrations are so extreme that air bubbles form in the brake fluid! Oh what fun we have!!

Anyway, the geysers are very impressive, jets of boiling water and superheated steam gushing from holes and pools. We also visited a thermal spa situated down in a canyon. The road down was very steep, very narrow, and strewn with large rocks. It was only later that we found out that tourists normally leave their cars at the top of the canyon and walk down! Only the idiot English drive down! On the way back up I was praying we wouldn’t meet another vehicle coming down! The Atacama salt lake has a wildlife reserve and lots of flamingos, otherwise its just sort of flat, and dry and salty! The mountain lakes (at 4300m) are very beautiful, in magnificent settings with the pure blue water amidst dark volcanic cones.

After San Pedro we moved to Calama; a nice town, but the main attraction was 16km away …..the world’s largest opencast copper mine …..5,5km long, 3,5km wide, and 1000metres deep! The mine produces over 1million tons of pure copper per year ….with China the largest customer (22%!) The trucks they use to transport the ore can carry 110tons at a time, and the 1600HP engines burn 15litres of fuel per minute! …..At that rate my 4x4 would run for just 12 minutes! Our campsite was right next to a field of llamas ….with a particularly friendly black one called Sunshine.

By this time we were both missing the sea, and a slightly more humid atmosphere, so we drove to a tiny village called Pisagua on the coast northwest of Calama. It was a long drive, and the last 10km were in poor light, thick sea mist …and down a narrow mountain road that dropped 1000metres along a sheer cliff face. All I could hear from Ann was « Oh …..Oh …..Oh »

The village is tiny and quite poor. We found a municipal campsite at one end of the village …fairly primitive ….just a plastic pipe for water, but very quiet and peaceful. The village has a couple of shops, but we never managed to find out when they were open. The vllage does have a certain claim to « fame »; it was here that the dictator Pinochet brought his political prisoners from 1973 to 1978, and many of them never survived. Our campsite was on the site of the prison, and the cemetery is just next door. It is obviously still fresh in the minds of the people; we had a visit from one of the inhabitants who almost burst into tears when he was describing the terrible period. However, on a lighter note, we walked along the cliffs and found an enormous sea-lion colony; several hundred of them, and although there is a perfectly good beach nearby, they prefer to perch high on a group of huge rocks just off the coast. What is amazing is the climbing ability of these animals. Most of them were 40 to 50 metres up on the rocks, with almost sheer drops into the sea! Sea-lions have very agile and strong rear flippers that they can use as feet ….but even so ….I would need full climbing gear to get up there!

Also, we had neighbours on the pretty beach next to us ….pelicans ….dozens of them. Such huge, ungainly, comical bids. They look so clumsy and heavy that it’s a marvel they manage to take off and fly!

Well ….that’s all for now ….busy preparing for our trip up into Bolivia. It may be a while before I manage to update the blog again; the internet cafes are very rare in southern Bolivia.

PS. The picture of the truck is for Jack ….we’re buying him one for Xmas!

5 commentaires:

Unknown a dit…

Cracking bird in the red hat - available for Christmas? I cannot imagine what it must be like on some of those roads - steep, covered in snow, no brakes??? Much easier to look after Alexa!
Parcel arrived - absolutley superb; good choice & good fit. Lois impressed that you have wrapping paper & selotape - prepared for all contingencies!!

Keep the diary coming we are following it with awe. G & L

Anonyme a dit…

Hi Both,

I'm following your trip with baited breath - your descriptions are very vivid and it's a relief that as I read the blog I know that you have made it through the last hair-raising drive - I suppose you're only telling us about the exciting parts between long flat bits!

We are just back from a super holiday in Canada in a comfortable camping car, so when you're back in France we can tell you all what to see in the second part of your trip - in our case without any hairy roads.

Looking forward to the next installment - take care! Ali (for Michel as well)

Anonyme a dit…

Thanks again fot the pictures and thrilling story
, more news from us by e-mail
Greatings HaJa

Anonyme a dit…

We're sure your sitting in the sun drinking margaritas but those cutout lookalikes are quite convincing: as are the backgrounds. ;o)

Keep on trucking,
jon, brigitte and vanessa

Anonyme a dit…

dgdsa